Planned Lesson Activities

Activity Name Bring a Photo Into Class? What? Write a Poem About it?

Approx. Time 83 min.


Anticipatory Set
(20 min.)





Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power.
Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.
Patrick Rothfuss
This is the quote of the day. Words are the building blocks to what we do, the more specific
we are with our words, the more we can define our reality. On the SmartBoard of Dry Erase
Board, I will draw a picture of a house. Words are the base of the house, sentences are the
walls of the house, paragraph is the roof of the house, and the whole house all together is an
essay. Then, for poetry, I would replace sentences with lines, paragraph with stanza, and
essay with poem. Therefore, if you have poor words, you have a poor essay or poem. Word
choice matters. A weak poem, with weak words is boring. The best writing, the best speakers,
the best book all have writers who are good with their words. Just like we talked about with
stories and memoirs, the better words we use, the more someone is likely to understand our
story or memoir.

Teaching/
Presentation:
(15 min. direct
teacher
instruction/
modeling)





Includes: Input, Modeling and Checking for Understanding
1. Input:
Vocab terms:
o Stanza: A group of consecutive lines in a poem (a paragraph in poetry. Italian
for stopping place or place to rest.)
o Imagery see, feel, taste, smell, hear; Language that appeals to the senses.
o Simile type of comparison using like or as
o Hyperbole a type of metaphor that uses extreme exaggeration
o Onomatopoeia: words that are spelled like they sound.

2. Modeling: Read example noun poem Fireman and break down the elements in the
poem. Then model how I would create a poem off of my own picture. Model all 5 lines
for students. Then, model how to expand my poem, following the steps on the protocol
to guide my thinking.
3. Checking for Understanding: After modeling how to make my poem off of my picture, I
ask students if ther are questions about the instructions. I circle the room to check that
students have their picture of rhte homework assignment, and at that point I can
answer any questions that they have.
4. Questioning Strategies: This assignment guides students to the creating stage. Students
are asked to compose and produce their own poem with examples of literary elements.
Teaching
Strategy:
Students use the noun poem protocol to help them write a poem about the picture they
brought in. While students are drafting their poems, I can circle the room and Praise, Prompt,
and Leave students as I check in with them. Students have a huge chunk of work time to
(20 min.
explained above)

complete this task. While drafting their poems, students can brainstorm lines for their poems
together in their table groups (collaborative learning).


Teaching
Strategy:
(Independent
practice 40 min.)



Daily Journal Prompt: The daily journal prompt is time when students work on writing
stamina (a full 4 minutes of writing on either the prompt or a topic of choice). Sometimes the
journal prompts function as an anticipatory set for the lesson.
Daily Reading: The daily reading time is when students work on reading stamina (at least a full
6 minutes) and this time can be used to conference with individual students about their
reading and/or writing in class.
Workshop Model: Noun Poem: Students have most of the class time to get a first draft of
their noun poem completed, then a second draft of the poem completed where they expand
the draft that they already have to include literary terms.
Closure

Ticket out the Door: Do you find it easier or harder to write a poem about a picture from your
own life. What types of poems have you produced in the past in your English classes?
Materials


Students photos from home
Netbooks
Free book of choice
Composition notebooks

Differentiation



To modify: Students on IEPs need to produce at least the 5 line draft of this poem during this
class period; they can have extended time to complete the expanded version of the noun
poem.
To extend: Students brought in 3 pictures to class. If students on an ALP complete their first
expanded poem, they can move on to complete an expanded poem on their 2 other photos.
Assessment




This is an important summative assessment along the way. This noun poem composition asks
students to start using literary terms in the poem that they produce. There is a formula that
guides them into producing a poem; however, it is up to students to compose a poem with
literary elements and create a poem that makes sense and adequately represents the photo
they brought in. This is a scaffolded assignment because it will later be one of the options of
poems that students can recite in front of the class, which is why it is important that students
produce a very good poem to start with, and which is why there is guidance to help students
produce good noun poems.